Fall

I woke up this morning and suddenly – it was fall.

That rainy Seattle haze is back, and I’m actually starting to get excited about it. The morning is still dark and a little dreary, and there’s an implied temperature drop (“implied” just because it hasn’t happened yet – it’s supposed to be in the 70s again tomorrow).

This is the Seattle that I remember signing up for: the mostly gray, constantly wet city, filled with the sounds of tires hitting soaked pavement and puddles being splashed through. Where you shouldn’t go anywhere without your raincoat and a couple more layers than you think you’ll need.

I remember being excited about the fall last year. I couldn’t wait to drink pumpkin spice lattes and make apple crisp every other weekend. But while summer this year has been gorgeous, it hasn’t felt like summer to me. My California self is demanding a summer with heat that’s too hot to bear, that radiates through your shoes when you stand on the pavement for too long and requires that you spend your days indoors. That doesn’t happen here, and in a small and kind of twisted way, it makes me sad.

So I feel hopeful with this glint of excitement for fall. I was starting to feel a loathing for a dark and cold winter, but now I’ve got a tingle of joy that it’ll be nice after all.

Rainy Day in Italy

In a word, today was wet.

Rain drenched through my backpack and seeped into my shoes, making everything squish as I walked. I was expecting showers but not a complete downpour. Not that I had a problem with it – I want to move to Seattle someday, after all – just that it took me by surprise.

But the adventures I had today were well worth the water-speckled glasses and squeaky shoes I had to endure. First, after slight negotiation, my Italian class and I were able to go on the International Business class’s field trip to – that’s right, ladies and gents – a chocolate company. And not just any chocolate company: it’s one of the oldest in Torino. This is the place that serves the (apparently) world-renowned “bicerin”, a drink made of chocolate, espresso, and whipped cream. After walking quite a long ways, we sat down outside and got our beverages. And I have to say, it was indeed pretty delicious! It was like having hot chocolate with a slight kick to it. Also, it didn’t taste like an American mocha – it was thicker, but not as heavy (if that makes any sense). Just having the experience itself was worth the walk.

My bicerin!

After exploring the tiny little café and accompanying (overpriced) chocolate store, the group split up. Some went to lunch before heading on their next field trip (to a castle – that’s a pretty awesome day if I do say so myself!). Since I still had class in a little bit, I decided to go with my friends Samuel and Andrew to find the supposedly best kabob (or “kebap” or “kabab” or however you decide to spell it – I’ve definitely seen a handful of different ways while here) place in Torino. After a Metro ride, a leaky bus excursion, and a trek down a few blocks in the pouring rain, we finally made it to this hole-in-the-wall. The way the restaurant worked confused us but the people were nice, and eventually we got our food. Oh man, was it worth it. The kabab “sandwich” that I had was more like a burrito, with meat, lettuce, tomato, onions, sauce, and – that’s right – French fries inside a pita. Andrew ate the same thing that I did, and Samuel got a kabab pizza, which had the same ingredients on a pizza crust. Everything was so delicious, and while it was seemingly more foreign than most of the food I’ve been having here, it actually tasted a lot like something I’d get back home. (maybe that was just because of the French fries though… 😛 ) After finishing our meals, I headed to class, where we reviewed for our midterm tomorrow, and came home.

I find myself using the word “adventure” a lot to describe the days I’ve had here and the things I’ve been doing. It might sound like I’m exaggerating, but the truth is that I find everything to really be an adventure. I am, after all, living in a new country, where I’m free and able to explore the city and its surrounding areas. So why not see it as such? Every day is an opportunity to do something new and completely different. I want to seize hold of that as much as I can and go on all the adventures I’m able to fit in while I’m here.

The sun’s peaking its head out now, and I’ve got studying I have to attend to. Ciao for now – more adventures to come later 🙂

Italy on the Weekend

This weekend was awesome. Ohmygoodness. Where to begin.

I had my first class on Friday. It’s Elementary Italian I, and there are only three people in it. It’s really nice having such a small class, actually, because it’s like I’m practically getting tutored 😀 The two teachers both seem really cool. They’re patient and are (so far) good at explaining things. I’m going to have the class three days a week for three hours each… I’m really excited to keep learning!

After class we got to tour the top of the Lingotto mall, which used to house the Fiat factory. It was awesome being up there – there’s still the test track they used, along with a private art gallery (home to some Mattise’s, Picasso’s, and a Renoir or two). It was also the media base during the 2006 Olympics in Torino. It felt like we could see the entire city up there!

Here’s the Olympic Arch – the bridge leads to Olympian Village from the mall

I went with my friends Samantha, Katie, and Samuel to the grocery store afterwards to get makings for dinner. While inside, it started raining really hard. We tried to wait the storm out, then gave up and just ran through it to the Metro station. We made dinner together and just talked and got to know each other, which made me happy 🙂

Saturday was full of great adventures too. We went to a castle in the Piedmont region. Driving through the countryside was absolutely wonderful. It’s really as gorgeous as the Windows backgrounds make it out to be.

I’m still blown away by it. We got to explore the castle, which dates back to the 1400s. I don’t know if I’ve ever been inside an older building. Once we were finished there, we went to our director’s friend’s winery, where we (read: about 40 of us) were treated to a lunch of possibly the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life. It was fettuccine-like (but the noodles were thinner) with a light meat sauce, made with red wine, the wife said, but I couldn’t tell you what more went into it. In any case, saying it was delicious doesn’t even come close to describing the awesomeness. I want to cook like that someday. We also got to try four different kinds of wines, all of which were made there and were exclusive to the region. We had Barolo, which is very expensive back in the states, as well as an Asti dessert wine, which was so so tasty (I bought a bottle of each to take home – yay!). They were definitely the best wines I’ve ever had, and the trip was worth the very warm, very humid bus ride there.

I would highly recommend tracking down Enrico (left) in the Piedmont region in Italy, getting to know him, and buying as much wine as you possibly can carry from him. He and his wife are amazing chefs as well, and are quite generous.

Once we got back into the city we went to a cafe and had coffee. I had a marocchino, which is definitely the best way to drink coffee. Basically, it’s a shot of espresso and some warm milk in a Nutella-drizzled glass… so good! Sam and Katie and I went to their apartment and worked on homework, narrowly missing the rain this time (and boy, was it a storm! But it made the air absolutely wonderful afterwards 🙂 ). We had tomatoes (or pomodoros, as they say in Italian), apricots, and bread with oil and vinegar for dinner, which was just the perfect amount.

Today I slept in (eight hours of sleep – woohoo! That’s definitely not the norm for me here – there’s so much to do and see!) and then Sam, Samuel, Katie, and I went to Via Garibaldi, which is full of shops and looks like what I thought Italy would look like. Here, check it out:

I bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (er, sorry – Philosopher’s) Stone in Italian today too. I want to read it out loud so I can work on my pronunciation and accent. 😀 We went out to dinner tonight and had typical Italian food. I had pasta and meat sauce (ragú, it’s called) and we practically had to roll ourselves out the door because we ate so much food. But it was so wonderful.

So yes. That was my weekend. I enjoyed getting to know the city, and I really don’t know if I could have asked for much better 🙂

Avril 14th



I’m looping it again.

This song had its perfect moment a few hours ago. I was sitting in the study room starting to review for my physics midterm later this week when I glanced up. It was nothing monumental – just the clear blue sky with a few puffy white clouds strewn across it. But it made me stop, and I got lost in it and in the simple notes of the song, which was playing quietly in my ears.

To me this song represents just what the sky does: the rain is over. When I had to go to class not-so-bright and early this morning it was pouring; now it’s crisp, cool, and clear. I love the rain more than I can express right now: it’s so simple and fresh and renewing. It’s cleansing and silent, even through the sound of it on the roof. But it’s moments like these, when it moves over and the sky becomes clear again, that really take my breath away.

So simple. So overlooked. All expressed in this song.

Go listen to it. It will bring the sun out for you, too.